Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that security services have identified two Ukrainian citizens as being involved in acts of sabotage on the country’s railway network. According to him, the incidents could have caused a major disaster in train operations.
He announced that security services consider the attempted track explosion near the town of Mika and damage to railway infrastructure near Puławy to be two acts of sabotage aimed at causing a railway disaster, RMF24 reported.
According to Tusk, the two Ukrainians identified as saboteurs had entered Poland from Belarus. One of them was convicted in Lviv in May for acts of sabotage in Ukraine; the other, a native of Donbas, had previously worked in the prosecutor’s office. Tusk added that information about the suspects cannot be disclosed at this stage due to ongoing operations by the security services.
Tusk said that after the explosion near Mika, the two men left Poland through the border crossing in Terespol. Their identities were confirmed later by the services. According to the Prime Minister, the saboteurs intended to cause a train accident and record it.
Describing the method of sabotage, Tusk explained that a steel clamp attached to the tracks near Puławy station was meant to derail a train. The incident was to be recorded on a mobile phone connected to a power bank left on the tracks. This attempt failed completely.
The second incident occurred on 15 November at 20:58 and was captured by surveillance cameras. A military-grade C4 explosive was detonated using a trigger connected via a 300-metre electric cable. Some of the material did not detonate. The explosion occurred as a Warsaw–Puławy freight train was passing and caused minor damage to the floor of one wagon. The driver did not notice the incident.
Tusk also commented on the police response to the initial report of an explosion: officers searched the area for more than an hour because the witness could not specify the exact location. The next morning, another train stopped at the damaged section, and Tusk said that thanks to the driver’s reaction, a derailment was avoided. At 9:43, after police inspected the scene, top state officials were notified.
Tusk called the situation unprecedented and the most serious security threat faced by Poland since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He stressed that Russia seeks to provoke chaos, panic and anti-Ukrainian sentiment, which is especially dangerous in a country hosting over a million Ukrainian refugees.
The Prime Minister said that the Internal Security Agency and the Ministry of the Interior had asked to introduce the third-level alarm “Charlie” for certain railway lines. The rest of the country will remain under the second level, and he will issue the relevant order soon. The “Charlie” level requires round-the-clock readiness of designated authorities, additional checks and transport inspections, and limits on parking at protected facilities.
Tusk also said he had instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take immediate diplomatic steps to bring the suspects back to Poland. He noted that requests will be sent to both Belarusian and Russian authorities, and that other measures will be taken to help secure the detention of those responsible.